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Odin
|family = *Ymir (great-grandfather) † *Búri (grandfather) *Vé (brother) *Vili (brother) *Fjörgyn (wife) † *Freya (former wife) *Baldur (son) † *Týr (son) † *Thor (son) *Sif (daughter-in-law) *Magni (grandson) † *Modi (grandson) † |loyalties = *Asgard *Aesir |status = Alive |appears in = ''God of War'' (2018) }}Odin, also known as the Allfather ', is the Norse God of War, Death, Wisdom, Poetry, and Magic, and is the ruler of Asgard. He is the father of Thor, Týr and Baldur and was a husband to Freya, Fjörgyn and an unnamed woman. Odin acts as the overarching antagonist in [[God of War (2018)|''God of War (2018)]]. Norse Mythology , also known as Woden and Wotan, was the Chief God of . Odin appeared in heroic literature as the protector of heroes; fallen warriors joined him in . He had a mythical horse called , who had eight legs, teeth inscribed with runes, and the ability to gallop through the air and over the sea. Odin was one of the greatest wizards among the gods and was associated with runes. He was also the God of Poets. His outward appearance he was an old man, with flowing beard and only one eye (the other he gave in exchange for wisdom). He was usually depicted wearing a cloak and a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a spear. In the God of War Series Prior to the Game Odin was a grandson of Búri, the first of the Aesir gods, who had sprung from Ymir, the first Giant and father of all life. However, unlike Ymir, Odin felt that the Aesir were fit to be the supreme rulers of the Nine Realms and so he and his brothers Vili and Ve killed Ymir and anyone else who stood in his path, taking the place of the "Allfather". At some point, Mimir came to Odin with a "Mystic Well of Knowledge" but was really a well laced with enough hallucinogenic mushrooms to give even a god visions. Odin was initially impressed with this well and whatever he saw in his hallucinations made him start to tear out both of his eyes. Fortunately, he was stopped by Mimir from finishing the job and was convinced by Mimir that he had sacrificed his eye for knowledge. Odin eventually figured out that Mimir had fooled him and one day removed one of Mimir's eyes. Around this time, Odin also began to wed women and expand his family, hoping to gain strong sons. Odin took at least two wives during this period, the first of which giving him Týr. Odin also wed the Giantess Fjörgyn, with whom he had Thor. Some time after Thor's birth, Fjörgyn died; leaving Odin heartbroken and lonely for many years. After cementing his rule as the "Allfather," Odin continued to wage wars over the other realms. He did not encounter any difficulty until the Vanir, where the two forces fought to a stalemate. At this point, both sides grew tired of fighting, and Odin eventually agreed to marry Freya to end the fighting, and so that Odin may secretly learn her magic. Together, they produced Odin's youngest son, Baldur. For a time, the two appeared to have genuinely loved one another, with Mimir noting that their relationship seemed to echo that of Odin and Fjörgyn's. However, Freya eventually abandoned Odin, which angered the Allfather greatly and Odin cursed her to remain imprisoned in Midgard and to to never harm another another living thing, even in self defense, out of petty revenge. Odin also sought the secrets of Jötunheim and the Giants. However, he made an enemy of them, and he started a genocidal campaign to kill any Giant the Aesir could find. His son Týr attempted to bring a peace by inviting Odin to a summit with the Giants, but Odin only agreed to get the secrets of Jotunheim. The giants foresaw this and expelled Odin from their homeland. Týr then permanently opposed Odin's attempts to learn the Giants's secrets, which led to Odin killing Tyr. ''God of War'' (2018) While not actually making an appearance in the game, he is frequently mentioned by several characters. He is the one who imprisoned Mimir in the past and personally tortured him every day for many decades. He also sent Baldur to gain knowledge of Faye's whereabouts, as the Giantess has been a thorn in the Aesir's side for quite some time. He employs a large number of icy ravens (known as Eyes of Odin) to observe the world and gather information for him. Kratos can destroy all of these ravens. Odin also has secret vaults scattered throughout the world that contain murals depicting legends, and an entrance to a Valkyrie's prison. Personality According to Mimir, Odin was extremely paranoid about anything he believed would threaten his rule and that of the Aesir, much like how Zeus was before Kratos killed him. This included the giants, the Vanir and even the beloved Týr, his own son. Also, Mimir said that Odin is extremely clever, almost as clever as Odin believes himself to be, as he was able to figure out that Kratos and Atreus had an important role in the coming of Ragnarök, possibly due to Gróa's prophecy. It is implied that he has an intense fear of Kratos as well, as he knows nothing about him except that he is extremely powerful, having faced and killed Modi, Magni, and Baldur. In addition, Odin jealously guards all the knowledge and secrets he collected. He betrayed and deceived many revered figures in Norse mythology who possessed knowledge that he did not and once he obtained them, he disposed of them cruelly. It is also stated the Odin is very cruel, having tortured Mimir during his imprisonment every day, ordered his son Thor to kill every Jötnar he could find and betrayed the Jötnar, Ymir, at the beginning under the self-righteous belief that he and the Aesir were bringing order. In truth, he and the Aesir believed that they were superior and deserved to be such. Additionally, Odin feigned affection to Freya during their marriage just so he could learn the methods to use Old Magic for his own purposes. Once he got what he wanted and Freya started to rebel against him, even going as far as to break off the marriage and, out of rage, Odin banished her to stay in Midgard and robbed the goddess of her warrior spirit; therefore, rendering her unable to kill anything. To add insult to injury, he wrongfully corrupted the Valkyries into monstrous beasts by condemning them to be trapped in physical form to spite Freya further which dangerously overflowed Helheim with souls of the departed in the process. Finally, he left the Nine Realms to suffer during the Desolation, closing Asgard's gates. Odin is also shown to hold petty grudges, as he never forgot that Mimir had outwitted him when they first met. When Mimir finally fell out of favour, Odin removed one of his eyes. In addition, when he lost the arrangement he made with the disguised Hrimthur in finishing Asgard's walls, he may have kept his end of the bargain in allowing the builder to speak with his queen, Freya, the Allfather double-crossed him and had Thor kill him. In addition, when Skaoi spurned his affections, he deceived her into killing her own father during a hunt. Mimir stated that Odin is obsessed with prophecies of the future, stylizing himself to be "all-knowing and all-seeing" but more importantly, motivated to control the future, his fate, and every realm. Mimir exploited this to become his adviser when he offered him a "well of knowledge" that allowed him to see visions. Overall, Odin's depraved actions throughout the centuries have led him to be wholly despised by many figures such as the Vanir, Freya, The World Serpent, Mimir and even the Valkyries. However, Odin is not complete without the ability to feel love and trust others. He was known for having genuinely fallen in love with Fjörgyn despite his hatred for the Giants and conceived Thor with her. Her death caused such grief and sadness to Odin that even Mimir acknowledges that Odin was very sad and lonely after the death of his great love. To alleviate his pain and put an end to the Aesir-Vanir war, Mimir suggested that he married Freya. During this time, Mimir noticed the same happiness Odin had with Fjörgyn resurfaced and while he married her partly so as to learn her Vanir magic, Odin treated Freya in a loving manner and conceded most of her wishes. Their relationship eventually got strained when Odin became increasingly obsessed with Ragnarök and the Jötnar, which caused Freya to break off the marriage. Odin felt so betrayed that he cursed her to never leave Midgard and made her unable of directly harming anything or defending herself. He is also known to have a great deal of confidence and trust in his sons Baldur and Thor, as Odin was confident Thor could single-handedly wipe out the Giants and considered Baldur his finest tracker. Although he apparently could not lift the invulnerability spell that Freya placed on Baldur, Odin promised his son he would find a way to lift the spell if he found the Jötunn Guardian. It is unknown if Odin's promise was sincere or just a lie to motivate Baldur but as Baldur went along with it anyway, it can be assumed that Odin is willing to go to great lengths to reward and keep promises he made to his children should they achieve a significiant enough deed. Powers and Abilities As the King of the Aesir Gods, Odin is considered to be the most powerful of his kind and holds immense levels of power. * Superhuman Strength: Odin must have tremendous amounts of superhuman strength that are clearly superior to that of his son Baldur and maybe even equal to that of Thor, the God of Strength. * Magical Prowess: Odin is the most powerful sorcerer of all the Aesir. He also learned Vanir magic from Freya, which was the sole reason he agreed to marry her. He is capable of casting a variety of powerful curses, as he cursed Freya to be unable to leave Midgard and harm others, with Freya, despite being a powerful sorceress on her own right, being unable to break the curse on herself. Odin also used magic to transform the Valkyries into monstrous forms of themselves and create magical prisons to trap them. * Summoning: As the Raven God, Odin is able to summon ravens to observe and gather information from across the realms. Weapons *'Gungnir:' In Norse mythology, Odin possesses the Dwarven made spear, Gungnir, which always hits its target. Trivia *His Greek equivalent (in terms of being the king of the gods) is Zeus. **In terms of attributes, however, Odin encompasses multiple roles shared by different Greek Gods (e.g. Ares, Athena, Apollo, and Thanatos). *Tacitus, a Roman historian and senator, associated Odin with Hermes's Roman equivalent Mercury due to their status as a psychopomp. *Throughout the game, Kratos and Atreus encounter Odin's ravens. A side mission includes killing 51 of these ravens. *According to Mimir, one of Odin's primary obsessions was finding a way to Jötunheim to learn the giant's secrets. He continues to search for a way to the realm to this day. *Despite hating the giants, and they him, Odin ended up falling in love with a giant, Thor's mother Fjörgyn. In addition, before or after her, Odin sought the affections of Skaði, Queen of the Hunt. Category:God of War (2018) Category:Norse Mythology Category:Characters Category:Immortals Category:Males Category:Living Characters Category:Aesir Category:Norse Gods